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Introduction to Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit

The Lives & Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece

The Ancient Christian Ministry of Spiritual Eldership

It is not uncommon, among both non-Orthodox as well as
Orthodox, in the west (and increasingly even among Orthodox in traditionally
"Orthodox" countries), for the ancient tradition of spiritual eldership to be
either completely unknown or misunderstood. The central role, however, that the
relation of elder to spiritual child has played in the life of the Church
throughout Christian history attests to its legitimacy. Similarly, the existence
of living links to this Christian tradition, inherited from one generation to
the next, even to the present day, attests to its vitality.

Although an academic exposition of the historical
roots of eldership falls outside the scope of the present work, we do feel it
necessary to look at these roots in general outline so as to place the present
work in its proper context.[1] This outline necessarily begins with the New Testament witness, which
may then be traced historically to the present day, and to the Greek monastic elders in this
book.

Spiritual eldership, preserved by the Holy Spirit from
apostolic times, descends to us in much the same way as does apostolic
succession (understood as the historical succession of bishops from apostolic
times until the present). As Bishop Kallistos Ware explains:

Alongside this [apostolic succession], largely hidden,
existing on a 'charismatic' rather than an official level, there is secondly
the apostolic succession of the spiritual fathers and mothers in each
generation of the Churchthe succession of the saints, stretching from the
apostolic age to our own day, which Saint Symeon the New Theologian termed the
"golden chain."... Both types of succession are essential for the true
functioning of the Body of Christ, and it is through their interaction that the
life of the Church on earth is accomplished. [2]

The foundation on which the spiritual tradition of
eldership is based is found in Holy Scripture. In particular, Christ's
Incarnation, Death and Resurrection, reveal His kenotic [3]
Fatherly love for His children and for the world.
This love has as its goal the ontological rebirth of man from within,
not the ethical improvement of man (although this is an inevitable fruit of
true spiritual rebirth) from without. [4] Faithfully following Christ's example, St. Paul gives
us a clear picture of what the relationship of elder to spiritual child means
in practical terms. His relationship to the churches he founded is not simply
the relationship of teacher to disciple, "For though ye have ten thousand
instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have
begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of
me." (I Corinthians 4:15-16). St. Paul's birth imagery is significant here, as
the relationship of mother to child is transposed onto the spiritual plane. His
words also indicate the completely free nature of this relationship:
full of love for his spiritual children, and selflessly interested in their
spiritual well being, he beseeches them to follow his example. [5]
In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul uses similar
imagery, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you." (Galatians 4:19). As becomes clear from these passages, St.
Paul does not see his role as that of a simple teacher who teaches people and
then leaves them to their own devices, nor as a psychologist, who tries to
provide psychological answers to spiritual questions. He accepts responsibility
for his children, identifying himself with them, "Who is weak, and I am not
weak? Who is offended, and my heart is not ablaze with indignation?" (2
Corinthians 11:29). Bishop Kallistos develops this point a bit further, "He
helps his children in Christ precisely because he is willing to share himself
with them, identifying his own life with theirs. All this is true also of the
spiritual father at a later date. Dostoevsky's description of the starets
may be applied exactly to the ministry of Saint Paul: like the elder, the
apostle is one who 'takes your soul and your will into his soul and will.'" [6]
It is significant here, furthermore, that the elder
does not assert his own will upon the spiritual child. On the contrary, he
accepts the spiritual child as he is, receiving the child's soul into his own
soul. This most basic aspect of this spiritual relationship points to one of
the reasons that this ancient ministry is so uncommon, especially today.

The ability the elder has to, "take your soul and your
will into his soul and will," is a fruit of his own willingness to empty
himself (according to the kenosis Christ teaches by His example on the
Cross) and thus make room for others. This self-emptying is not at all
superficial, but very much ontological, such that there is a real
identification of the elder with the life of his spiritual child. [7]
Such a total commitment to other people requires
complete self-sacrifice, as well as advancement along the spiritual path.
Without experiential knowledge of the spiritual path the elder is practically
unable to help others. [8]

When experiential knowledge of the spiritual path is
absent, humanity seeks other ways to deal with its spiritual woes. The solution
of modern man has been to provide materialistic answers to spiritual problis.
Psychology, modern medicine, and so on attempt to heal man; however, detached
as they are from genuine Orthodox Christian spiritual life, their attempts to
answer the very deep existential problis of contemporary man remain hopelessly
ineffectual. The Holy Spirit, abiding in the Church, and guiding Her into all
truth (John 16:13) since Pentecost, has taught the Church the ways of spiritual
healing, establishing Her as a "spiritual hospital." The elder acts both as
this hospital's finest surgeon as well as its chief medical school instructor. [9]

The Wisdom of the Gospel: Key to the Lives and Counsels

Perhaps the most important interpretive key for
approaching the lives and counsels presented herein is the realization that
they may only be understood according to their own "logic," which is not the
logic of this world. This logic, of course, is none other than the wisdom of
Christ's life and Gospel teaching. For contemporary man, however, Christ's
wisdom is truly difficult to grasp, it is a "hard" saying, and so the lives and
teachings of those who have followed, experientially and existentially, the
narrow path of Christ will similarly seem difficult to grasp and a "hard"
saying. Early on St. Paul understood this opposition between the wisdom of the
world and the wisdom of Christ,

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the
wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God
made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the
world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to
save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after
wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and
unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1
Corinthians 1:19-25).

Accepting Christ's message (and the incarnation of
this message in the lives of the elders gathered here) is particularly
difficult for contemporary people, even faithful Christians, for many of us
live most of our lives according to the wisdom of this world and not according
to the "foolishness" of the Cross. If one is able at least to understand that a
chasm lies between worldly wisdom, and the wisdom of the Gospel, it will make
the comprehension of the following lives more realizable. When this shift in
vision is realized, it reveals one's poverty of faith, as well as the distance
between where one is, and the absolute demands of the Gospel commandments.

For the person who is seeking God the realization of
the absolute difference between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the
Gospel begets repentance. It is significant that the Greek word for repentance,
metanoia, means, literally, a "change of mind." This change
of mind is a prerequisite for the comprehension of the Gospel, and so it is not
surprising that St. John the Baptist began his public ministry with the
injunction, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2).
Likewise, Christ began His ministry
with the same message, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,
Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) That the lives
and counsels of the Greek monastic elders contained in this book force the reader to shift to
the wisdom of the Gospel testifies to their spiritual ministry as prophets, a
ministry that monasticism has always fulfilled. [10]

In the context of the wisdom of the Gospel, those
aspects of these lives that surpass human understanding should not shock or
scandalize. Christ told His disciples that, "He that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." (John
14:12). The Church in Her wisdom and strength has preserved the witness of
those who, in the two thousand years since Christ's coming, have followed
faithfully in His steps. The lives of the Saints and the writings of ancient
and contemporary Fathers of the Church [11] give unquestionable witness to the riches of God's
mercy, and the experience of the action of the Holy Spirit. The lives and
sayings contained herein are contemporary witnesses to the truth that the Holy
Spirit continues to act and to inspire Christians to live lives fully dedicated
to Christ.

It is to witness to this truth that the present book
has been compiled. It is this witness that is the most precious aspect of these
lives (and not their miraculous aspect, impressive though this may be). One may
legitimately object, of course, after reading the lives, that the culture in
which these men were raised is significantly different from that in which we
live. The testimony we have from the Fathers of the Church, however, is that it
is not the place that we live that is most significant, but rather the way
that we live. They tell us, furthermore, that there are no circumstances that
could prevent us from keeping Christ's commandments, from following the way
Christ has shown us. [12] This is also the witness of the Scriptures wherein we
understand that the Scriptural injunctions are not dependent on time or place,
but are always pertinent and binding on man. [13]

To many, the absolute character of Christ's
commandments may seem a heavy burden. Again, however, the wisdom of the Gospel
surprises us, as Christ says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I
am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30). [14]

Perhaps more than anything else the lives of the
Saints (and of the Greek monastic elders in this book) provide an "interpretation" of Christ's
Gospel, "written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in
tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." (2 Corinthians 3:3). That
which is of greatest importance in these lives are not so much the details of
each life, but rather the spirit that breathes in them, which shaped them into
precious vessels of the Holy Spirit. These lives bear witness to the
transformation of man that is possible, when the Christian gives himself wholly
over to the will of God. As Elder Sophrony of Essex has written, it is not
arbitrary asceticism or the possession of supernatural gifts that constitute
genuine Christian spiritual life, but rather obedience to the will of God. Each
person has his own capabilities and his own path to tread; the keeping of
Christ's commandments, however, remains a constant. Fr. Sophrony also
repeatedly insists, following the teaching of his elder, St. Silouan the
Athonite, that the truth or falsity of one's path may be measured, not by one's
asceticism or spiritual gifts, but by love for one's enemies, by which St.
Silouan did not mean a "scornful pity; for him the compassion of a
loving heart was an indication of the trueness of the Divine path." [15]
In another place Fr. Sophrony develops this point more fully,

There are known instances when Blessed Staretz Silouan
in prayer beheld something remote as though it were happening close by; when he
saw into someone's future, or when profound secrets of the human soul were
revealed to him. There are many people still alive who can bear witness to this
in their own case but he himself never aspired to it and never accorded much
significance to it. His soul was totally engulfed in compassion for the world.
He concentrated himself utterly on prayer for the world, and in his spiritual
life prized this love above all else. [16]

Fr. Sophrony's words reveal to us a mystery of the ways of Christian monasticism
and eldership: according to the wisdom of this world, the monastic elder's
departure from the world seems like an escape from humanity. The reality,
however, is that according to the wisdom of the gospel, separation from the
world enables those who love God to love the world more than those who live in
the world do. It is this paradox that the monastic elder lives, and an
explication of which Dr. Georgios Mantzaridis provides in his Foreword. [17]

Endnotes

For a more complete exposition, the reader may want to consult Bishop
Kallistos Ware's "The Spiritual Father in Saint John Climacus and Saint Symeon
the New Theologian," published in Studia Patristica XV111/2. Kalamazoo:
Cistercian Publications-Leuven: Peeters, 1990. This article may also be found
as the Foreword of Irenee Hausherr's Spiritual Direction in the Early
Christian East. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1990, p.
vii-xxxiii, from which we quote. Also, by the same author, "The Spiritual Guide
in Orthodox Christianity," published in The Inner Kingdom: Volume One of the
Collected Works. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Press, 2000, p. 127-151.

Bishop Kallistos Ware, "The Spiritual Father in Saint John Climacus and
Saint Symeon the New Theologian," p. vii.

Kenosis/kenotic : Greek word meaning "self-emptying."

We are not aware of a sufficient study in English that addresses the
crucial difference between an ethical and an ontological understanding of
Christianity, although it is touched upon in Eugene Rose's (the future Fr.
Seraphim Rose) "Christian Love," in Heavenly Realm. Platina, CA: St.
Herman Brotherhood, 1984, p. 27-29.

This is the deeper meaning of Christ's second commandment, "Thou shalt
love... thy neighbor as thyself." (Luke 10:27). St. Silouan the Athonite taught
that this love is not quantitative (i.e., "as much as you love
yourself," but qualitative (i.e., "in the same way as you love
yourself,") thus emphasizing that the perfection of love for others is realized
in one's complete identification with them. Dr. Mantzaridis, in his Foreword,
which follows, develops precisely this point. It is only in humanity's
identification with Christ and with its neighbor that the true union of mankind
is possible.

St. John Climacus explains this necessary aspect of the elder: "A
genuine teacher is he who has received from God the tablet of spiritual
knowledge, inscribed by His Divine finger, that is, by the in-working of
illumination, and who has no need of other books." [Ad Pastorem. PG 88: 1165B.
Translation: Archimandrite Lazarus Moore, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.
Brookline, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1991, p. 231.

It should be noted that this charismatic ministry is not at odds with
the ministry of the priest-confessor. On the contrary, both have as their goal
the reconciliation of man with God. Although the priest-confessor's ministry of
guidance may be hindered by the absence of experiential knowledge of the ways
of spiritual growth and healing, he still bears the responsibility and blessing
to hear confession, to forgive man his sins, and to reconcile man to God. For
more on the Orthodox understanding of the Church as spiritual hospital, see
Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos' Orthodox Psychotherapy. Levadia,
Greece: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery, 1994.

"And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily
prophets, thirdly teachers...." (1 Corinthians 12:28). This prophetic ministry
was central to both the Old and New Testaments. The roots of monasticism lie in
this ancient ministry, which is not so much concerned with telling the future
(although this aspect of its ministry continues up to the present day), as
calling the world to a change of heart, to repentance, so that the world might
more easily accept the gospel message.

Fathers of the Church: This term is used in the Orthodox Church
to refer to Saints of all times whose teaching has been accepted by the Church
as an authentic expression of Her life and faith. Roman Catholics tend to
define this term more narrowly, limiting the Fathers to those Saints of the
Church who lived during the "golden age" of theology, in the first millennium
of Christianity, whose writings played a significant role in the development of
the dogmatic expression of the faith.

St. Symeon the New Theologian goes so far as to say that to believe
otherwise is heresy, "But the men of whom I speak and whom I call heretics are
those who say that there is no one in our times and in our midst who is able to
keep the Gospel commandments and become like the holy Fathers." The
Discourses. (Translation by C.J. deCatanzaro), Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press,
1980, p. 312. See also, Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, St. Silouan the
Athonite. Essex, England: Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist,
1991, p. 242-243.

See, Matthew 5:18, 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33, etc.

St. John Chrysostom interprets this passage precisely within the
framework we have discussed, in relation to man's attempt to be faithful to
Christ's commandments, "But if virtue seems a difficult thing, consider that
vice is more difficult.... Sin too has labor, and a burden that is heavy and hard
to bear.... For nothing so weighs upon the soul, and presses it down, as
consciousness of sin; nothing so gives it wings, and raises it on high, as the
attainment of righteousness and virtue.... If we pursue such a philosophy, all
these things are light, easy, and pleasurable.... Virtue's yoke is sweet and
light." [Homily 38, PG 57: 428-431 (cols. 431-434). Translation: Homilies on
the Gospel of St. Matthew. Found in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
of the Christian Church. First Series. Translated by Rev. Sir George
Prevost, Barontet, M.A., Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. Edited and revised, with
notes by Rev. M. B. Riddle, D.D. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, Vol. X, 1975].

Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, St. Silouan the Athonite, p.
228.

Ibid., p.130.

One final note on the application of the spiritual principles found in this book to one's own
life; as with all aspects of the spiritual life, spiritual guidance is a
necessary prerequisite for spiritual growth.